slapphead_otool

I heard the head of the NBN speak the other day, and seems a nice guy. However I was not convinced that he really knows what he is doing.

The cost on the NBD is staggering, and so far the take up in Tasmania is abysmal. Apparently 700 houses out of the 15,000 that have the cable. Giving it away for free in Brunswick didn't help things, even then only 45% of houses agreed to a free connection.

Now they are spending $650 Million to launch two satellites so that famers can get online. They don't have "planning permission" to park the satellites, but they are going ahead anyway.

This all reminds me of my days at Telstra. Public money splashed around with gay abandon, no accountability or monitoring of performance, and a disregard for common sense and good business practices. Which was exactly why Telstra found itself privatized....

So, how do people think about the NBN? Good or bad?

roaringmouse

Broadly speaking good, but probably being poorly implemented and probably too expensive, partly due to emphasis on getting rural customers hooked up first and/or at same price as city/large town dwellers.

Would be better with investment on more infrastructure to US & Europe as that may prove to be a bottle neck.

renth

I'm looking forward to being able to download pirated movies at lighting fast speeds, that's what the NBN is for, right?

IvanM

XTube anyone?

slapphead_otool

From memory there is a correlation between internet speed and porn

Not that I would know.

Vash the Stampede

(Source).

All NBN connections are free.

Quigley has stated they will not launch the satellites until an orbital slot has been obtained. The satellites are currently being built and they're not due for launch until 2015. Plenty of time.

Excellent. Possibly the most brilliant, cost effective government infrastructure project since the Snowy Mountains Scheme, which took 25 years to build.

slapphead_otool

I take it thats a vote for yes then Vash.

Why if it is free are people saying no? (I have no feelings either way on NBN, but Quigly came over as a pompous twit - even Turnbull sounded better....)

IvanM

Distrust of change, distrust of government, no idea of the benefits and poor press reporting that has been misleading.

There is still line rental.

The benefits for business are enourmous. So much on site IT infrastructure can be decommissioned. The running costs can be brought down.

Forgot about HD pron.

commonwealth

So my p0rn streaming will no longer keep me waiting eh?

NedKelly

It's a complete and utter waste of money.

Wol

Probably a good thing so far as the general idea goes but, like all government operations, vastly overpriced.

IvanM

You can be as quick as possible.

slapphead_otool

That really was my point. Hearing Quigly speak was like deja vu to my days at Telstra. Big numbers and a "we don't care about anything, we are going to do it" attitude.

I was working for a management consulting group a couple of years ago and every consultancy in Oz was clambering aboard the gravy train - again just like Telstra. I would love to see who NBN are paying and what for.

Th only thing I can discover is the lead companies:

NBN Implementation Study Lead Advisors -McKinsey & Company and KPMG
NBNCo Business Plan Consultants -Greenhill Caliburn
NBNCo/Telstra Agreement -Lazard
Advertising -Cleminger Melbourne - and Weber Shandwick
Other Consultants - Consultel

Underneath that there will be hundreds of hangers on, desperate to sniff the trough.....


Edited to add:

NBN Co's 900 employees are averaging more than $150,000 a year. Thats better than Telstra....

In the 12 months to June 2011, NBN Co spent $60m on consultants and $42m on legal costs

SIXTY MILLION on CONSULTANTS - There the Telstra factor for you.

Wol

Couldn't agree more about the Telstra comments.

And the other disgraceful thing in this grossly mishandled affair is the way that Telstra declined to put in a valid tender - after all, it's Telstra's *right* to dictate terms in the telcoms business - and yet were allowed to jump aboard just the same.

hoofie2002

It would have been better to plant "seed money" and get the private sector to build it. This especially applies in remote areas who could operate under subsidy from the more urban areas.

The private sector could have it done it for considerably less money - I would imagine the contract inflation and feather-bedding is extreme in the NBN; anything with the word "Government" in it attracts that.

You will still pay for it one way or another;taxes or directly.

The headline money would have been better spent on focusing on a more Australia-wide electrical and water distribution system - real productive infrastructure like the Snowy Hydro, not some project whose ultimate purpose is to speed up porn downloads and will be technically out-of-date very fast. Realistically all of the glossy things promised by the NBN can be done now and those that can't have other causal effects rather than link speed.

If they best thing the government can think of to blow nearly $30bn of our money on is flash phone cabling then we are in a very poor state - where is the vision ?